1.
Russian frigate Rurik (1851)
–
Rurik was a steam-powered frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy. She was ordered by the Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland for the Finnish naval equipage and she was named in honour of Rurik, the semi-legendary founder of ancient Russia. Rurik was designed by Johan Eberhard von Schantz and she was built in Turku at Gamla Warfsbolaget i Åbo and launched in October 1851. At the time of her construction she was the largest ship built in Finland. The Scottish engineer William Crichton was recruited to supervise construction of the steam engine, later he took over the engine builder Cowie & Ericsson and renamed it W, m Crichton & C, o. Although financed by Finns, the ship ended up serving as an vessel to the Russian Imperial Yacht. She survived the Crimean War, and later served in the Russian Baltic Fleet, Rurik - armoured cruiser sunk at the Battle of Ulsan Rurik - Russian armoured cruiser built by Vickers
2.
Russian cruiser Rurik (1892)
–
Rurik was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1890s. She was named in honour of Rurik, the founder of ancient Russia. She was sunk at the Battle of Ulsan in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 and it appears that Shestakov wanted a design similar to Pamiat Azova and such a design was submitted via a constructor from the Baltic Works to the MTK. That design, a 9, 000-ton,8 inch belted cruiser, was rejected by the MTK, the submitted design called for a long warship and had a design endurance of 20,000 nautical miles. Shestakov was unable, however, to fight for the submitted design, shestakovs successor, Chikhachev, had excellent relations with the MTK board, and the Baltic Works design was quickly rejected. The MTK design which followed was a 10, 000-ton vessel with a 10 inch belt and with an operational speed, Rurik would also sport a complete barque rig. Construction began in 1890 after powerplant issues were solved by the designers at the Baltic Works. As plans and designs of Rurik were being finalised, rumours began floating as to the nature of the vessel. In particular, Britain became extremely nervous about the new cruiser, the British press fuelled anxiety to the point where it approached paranoia As it turned out, the Royal Navy grossly overestimated the threat posed by Rurik. With only a top speed of 18.7 knots in good conditions, after her commissioning, Rurik headed for the Russian Pacific Fleet based at Vladivostok. Admiral Fyodor Dubasov, who commanded the Pacific Squadron, recommended various modifications to the ship after a period of service, including reboilering. The reboilering project never got off the ground, but the amount of rigging was cut down significantly. By August 1904, only one ship had sunk and the Imperial Japanese Army had moved siege artillery close enough to shell the main Russian port in the Pacific. The siege of Port Arthur kept most of the Russian naval vessels assigned to the Pacific Squadron inside the port, on 14 August, three of the four Vladivostok-based cruisers sortied towards Port Arthur in an attempt to assist in lifting the Japanese blockade. They were met by a squadron of Japanese warships commanded by Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojō in the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan, which resulted in the battle off Ulsan, the Japanese force had four modern armored cruisers, Iwate, Izumo, Tokiwa, and Azuma. Early in the engagement, Rurik was hit by Japanese fire three times in the stern, flooding her steering compartment so that she had to be steered with her engines. Her speed was decreased, splitting it from the rest of the Russian ships, further exposing her to Japanese fire, the Russian Admiral Karl Jessen attempted to provide cover for the ship, but was pushed back by the Japanese cruisers. As the Russian ships withdrew, Rurik was set upon by several Japanese cruisers, rather than surrender the ship to the Japanese, the senior surviving officer, one Lieutenant Ivanov, ordered the ship to be scuttled
3.
Russian cruiser Rurik (1906)
–
Rurik was an armoured cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1906. During World War I, the ship saw service with the Baltic Fleet, Rurik is unusual in that she was built by Vickers in Barrow in Furness, England. She was laid down in August 1905, launched on 4 November 1906, the Russian Navy was not usually a customer of British shipyards. She was named in honour of Rurik, the founder of ancient Russia. Unlike her previous namesake, Rurik, she has described as one of the best armoured cruisers built. She was designed by KA Tennison and AP Titov, and the contract was arranged by Basil Zaharoff, the ship had a prolonged work-up while defects were rectified. There was a plan to build two ships in Russia, but this was cancelled after the first battlecruiser, HMS Invincible. The main armament consisted of four 10-inch guns in two turrets, and the armament consisted of eight 8-inch guns in four twin turrets located at the corners of the superstructure. These guns were built by Vickers, the anti-torpedo boat armament comprised twenty 4. 7-inch guns in casemates. There were also four 1. 85-inch guns and two 18-inch torpedo tubes, gunnery trials revealed that the fastenings on the 10-inch and 8-inch barbettes were insufficiently strong and were deformed during firing. Vickers was forced to reinforce the turrets, the work was done in Kronstadt after delivery. All plate was Krupp armour made by Vickers, the 10-inch gun turrets were protected by 8-inch plate, and the 8-inch gun turrets were protected by 7-inch plate. The main belt was 500 feet long and extended to 5 feet below mean water line, there was also an upper belt,3 inches thick, which extended to the 4. 7-inch gun battery. Each 4. 7-inch gun had 1-inch armour screens and was separated by 1-inch armour from neighbouring guns, the forward conning tower was protected by 8-inch armour, and the after conning tower was protected by 5-inch armour. The power plant consisted of two four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines and twenty-eight Belleville type boilers, on trials at the Skelmorlie mile she reached 21.43 knots, developing 20,580 hp. She carried out a deployment to the Mediterranean in company with the battleships Tsesarevich and Slava and she was the flagship of the Baltic Fleet during World War I and saw much action, being damaged by mines on several occasions. On 19 November 1916, she was damaged after striking a mine in the Baltic Sea off Hochland and her crew survived, and she was refloated, repaired, and returned to service. The ship was out by 1918
4.
Oleg of Novgorod
–
Oleg of Novgorod was a Varangian prince who ruled all or part of the Rus people during the early 10th century. He also launched at least one attack on Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, according to East Slavic chronicles, Oleg was supreme ruler of the Rus from 882 to 912. The nature of Olegs relationship with the Rurikid ruling family of the Rus, according to the Primary Chronicle, Oleg was a relative of the first ruler, Rurik, and was entrusted by Rurik to take care of both his kingdom and his young son Igor. Oleg gradually took control of the Dnieper cities, seizing the power in Kiev by tricking and slaying Askold and Dir, the new capital was a convenient place to launch a raid against Constantinople in 907. According to the chronicle, the Byzantines attempted to poison Oleg, having fixed his shield to the gate of the imperial capital, Oleg won a favourable trade treaty, which eventually was of great benefit to both nations. Although Byzantine sources did not record these hostilities, the text of the treaty survives in the Chronicle, the Novgorod First Chronicle does not give the date of the commencement of Olegs reign, but dates his death to 922 rather than 912. Scholars have contrasted this dating scheme with the reigns of roughly thirty-three years for both Oleg and Igor in the Primary Chronicle. The Primary Chronicle and other Kievan sources place Olegs grave in Kiev, in the Primary Chronicle, Oleg is known as the Prophet, an epithet alluding to the sacred meaning of his Norse name. According to the legend, romanticised by Alexander Pushkin in his ballad The Song of the Wise Oleg, to defy the prophecies, Oleg sent the horse away. Many years later he asked where his horse was, and was told it had died and he asked to see the remains and was taken to the place where the bones lay. When he touched the skull with his boot a snake slithered from the skull. Oleg died, thus fulfilling the prophecy, in Scandinavian traditions, this legend lived on in the saga of Orvar-Odd. According to the Primary Chronicle, Oleg died in 912 and his successor, Igor of Kiev, the Schechter Letter, a document written by a Jewish Khazar, a contemporary of Romanus I Lecapenus, describes the activities of a Rus warlord named HLGW, usually transcribed as Helgu. For years many scholars disregarded or discounted the Schechter Letter account, zuckerman posited that the early chronology of the Rus had to be re-determined in light of these sources. In contrast to Zuckermans version, the Primary Chronicle and the later Kiev Chronicle place Olegs grave in Kiev, where it could be seen at the time of the compilation of these documents. Furthermore, scholars have pointed out that if Oleg succeeded Rurik in 879, he could hardly have been active almost 70 years later and it has also been suggested that Helgu-Oleg who waged war in the 940s was distinct from both of Ruriks successors. He could have one of the fair and great princes recorded in the Russo-Byzantine treaties of 911 and 944 or one of the archons of Rus mentioned in De administrando imperio. Georgy Vernadsky even identified the Oleg of the Schechter Letter with Igors otherwise anonymous eldest son, however, the academic mainstream has not endorsed either of these theories
5.
Veliky Novgorod
–
It is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. The city lies along the Volkhov River just downstream from its outflow from Lake Ilmen, UNESCO recognized Novgorod as a World Heritage Site in 1992. At its peak during the 14th century, the city was the capital of the Novgorod Republic, the Charter of Veliky Novgorod recognizes 859 as the year when the city was first mentioned. Archaeological dating is fairly easy and accurate to within 15–25 years, as the streets were paved with wood, and most of the houses made of wood, allowing tree ring dating. The Varangian name of the city Holmgård/Holmgard is mentioned in Norse Sagas as existing at a yet earlier stage, originally, Holmgård referred only to the stronghold southeast of the present-day city, Rurikovo Gorodische. First mention of this Nordic or Germanic etymology to the name of the city of Novgorod occurs in the 10th-century policy manual De Administrando Imperio by Byzantine emperor Constantine VII, in 882, Ruriks successor, Oleg of Novgorod, conquered Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus. Novgorods size as well as its political, economic, and cultural influence made it the second most important city in Kievan Rus, according to a custom, the elder son and heir of the ruling Kievan monarch was sent to rule Novgorod even as a minor. When the ruling monarch had no son, Novgorod was governed by posadniks, such as the legendary Gostomysl, Dobrynya, Konstantin. Of all their princes, Novgorodians most cherished the memory of Yaroslav the Wise and his son, Vladimir, sponsored construction of the great St. Sophia Cathedral, more accurately translated as the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, which stands to this day. In Norse sagas the city is mentioned as the capital of Gardariki, four Viking kings—Olaf I of Norway, Olaf II of Norway, Magnus I of Norway, and Harald Hardrada—sought refuge in Novgorod from enemies at home. No more than a few decades after the 1030 death and subsequent canonization of Olaf II of Norway, the town of Visby in Gotland functioned as the leading trading center in the Baltic before the Hansa League. At Novgorod in 1080, Visby merchants established a trading post which they named Gutagard, later, in the first half of the 13th century, merchants from northern Germany also established their own trading station in Novgorod, known as Peterhof. At about the time, in 1229, German merchants at Novgorod were granted certain privileges. In 1136, the Novgorodians dismissed their prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, the year is seen as the traditional beginning of the Novgorod Republic. One of the most important local figures in Novgorod was the posadnik, or mayor, the tysyatsky, or thousandman, originally the head of the town militia but later a commercial and judicial official, was also elected by the Veche. Another important local official was the Archbishop of Novgorod who shared power with the boyars, archbishops were elected by the Veche or by the drawing of lots, and after their election, were sent to the metropolitan for consecration. While a basic outline of the officials and the Veche can be drawn up. The boyars and the archbishop ruled the city together, although where one officials power ended, throughout the Middle Ages, the city thrived culturally
6.
Kievan Rus'
–
Kievan Rus was a loose federation of East Slavic tribes in Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century, under the reign of the Rurik dynasty. The modern peoples of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia all claim Kievan Rus as their cultural ancestors, according to Russian historiography the first ruler to start uniting East Slavic lands into what has become known as Kievan Rus was Prince Oleg. He extended his control from Novgorod south along the Dnieper river valley to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east, Sviatoslav I achieved the first major expansion of Kievan Rus territorial control, fighting a war of conquest against the Khazars. Vladimir the Great introduced Christianity with his own baptism and, by decree, extended it to all inhabitants of Kiev and beyond. Kievan Rus reached its greatest extent under Yaroslav the Wise, his sons assembled and issued its first written legal code, the state declined beginning in the late 11th century and during the 12th century, disintegrating into various rival regional powers. The state finally fell to the Mongol invasion of the 1240s. During its existence, Kievan Rus was known as the land of the Rus, in Greek as Ῥωσία, in Old French as Russie, Rossie, in Latin as Russia, and from the 12th century also Ruthenia. Various etymologies have been proposed, including Ruotsi, the Finnish designation for Sweden, and Ros, the term Kievan Rus was coined in the 19th century in Russian historiography to refer to the period when the centre was in Kiev. Later, the Russian term was rendered into Belarusian and Ukrainian as Кіеўская Русь Kijeŭskaja Rus’ and Ки́ївська Русь Kyivska Rus’, prior to the emergence of Kievan Rus in the 9th century AD, the lands between the Baltic Sea and Black Sea were primarily populated by eastern Slavic tribes. In the northern region around Novgorod were the Ilmen Slavs and neighboring Krivichi, who occupied territories surrounding the headwaters of the West Dvina, Dnieper, to their north, in the Ladoga and Karelia regions, were the Finnic Chud tribe. In the south, in the area around Kiev, were the Poliane, a group of Slavicized tribes with Iranian origins, the Drevliane to the west of the Dnieper, and the Severiane to the east. To their north and east were the Vyatichi, and to their south was forested land settled by Slav farmers, controversy persists over whether the Rus’ were Varangians or Slavs. This uncertainty is due largely to a paucity of contemporary sources, attempts to address this question instead rely on archaeological evidence, the accounts of foreign observers, legends and literature from centuries later. To some extent the controversy is related to the myths of modern states in the region. According to the Normanist view, the Rus were Scandinavians, while Russian and Ukrainian nationalist historians generally argue that the Rus were themselves Slavs. Normanist theories focus on the earliest written source for the East Slavs, nevertheless, archaeological evidence from the area suggests that a Scandinavian population was present during the 10th century at the latest. On balance, it likely that the Rus proper were a small minority of Scandinavians who formed an elite ruling class. Liutprand of Cremona, who was twice an envoy to the Byzantine court, identifies the Russi with the Norse, leo the Deacon, a 10th-century Byzantine historian and chronicler, refers to the Rus as Scythians and notes that they tended to adopt Greek rituals and customs
7.
Igor of Kiev
–
Igor I was a Varangian ruler of Kievan Rus from 912 to 945. Information about Igor comes mostly from the Primary Chronicle and this document has Igor as the son of Rurik, the first ruler of Kievan Rus, 6378–6387. On his deathbed, Rurik bequeathed his realm to Oleg, who belonged to his kin, Oleg set forth, taking with him many warriors from among the Varangians, the Chuds, the Slavs, the Merians and all the Krivichians. He thus arrived with his Krivichians before Smolensk, captured the city, thence he went on and captured Lyubech, where he also set up a garrison. He then came to the hills of Kiev, and saw how Askold and he hid his warriors in the boats, left some others behind, and went forward himself bearing the child Igor. Askold and Dir straightway came forth, then all the soldiery jumped out of the boats, and Oleg said to Askold and Dir, You are not princes nor even of princely stock, but I am of princely birth. Igor was then brought forward, and Oleg announced that he was the son of Rurik and they killed Askold and Dir, and after carrying them to the hill, they buried them there, on the hill now known as Hungarian, where the castle of Olma now stands. In 913 and 944 the Rus plundered the Arabs in the Caspian Sea during the Caspian expeditions of the Rus, Igor was killed while collecting tribute from the Drevlians in 945. Igors wife, Olga of Kiev, avenged his death by punishing the Drevlians, the Primary Chronicle blames his death on his own excessive greed, indicating that he tried to collect tribute for a second time in a month. As a result, Olga changed the system of gathering in what may be regarded as the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe. Drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, Constantin Zuckerman argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945. He explains the epic 33-year span of his reign in the chronicle to be the result of its authors faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources, indeed, none of Igors activities are recorded in the chronicle prior to 941. List of Ukrainian rulers List of Russian rulers
8.
Dynasty
–
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
9.
Rurik dynasty
–
The Rurik dynasty or Rurikids was a dynasty founded by the Varangian prince Rurik, who established himself in Novgorod around the year AD862. They ruled until 1610 and the Time of Troubles, following which they were succeeded by the Romanovs and they are one of Europes oldest royal houses, with numerous existing cadet branches. The Rurikid dynasty was founded in 862 by Rurik, a Varangian prince, come and reign as princes and have authority over us. Three brothers came with their kin and all the Rus in response to this invitation, Rurik set up rule in Novgorod, giving more provincial towns to his brothers. The Rurikid Dynasty DNA Project of FamilyTreeDNA commercial genetic genealogy company reports that Y-DNA testing of the descendants of Rurikids suggests their non-Slavic origin, Rurik and his brothers founded a state that later historians called Kievan Rus′. By the middle of the century, Kievan Rus′ had dissolved into independent principalities. The dynasty followed agnatic seniority and the izgoi principle, in addition, a line of Polotsk princes assimilated themselves with the princes of Lithuania. In the 10th century the Council of Liubech made some amendments to a succession rule, vsevolods line eventually became better known as the Monomakhovychi and was the predominant one. The line of Svyatoslav later became known as Olegovychi and often claim to the lands of Chernihiv. The Izyaslavychi who ruled Turov and Volhynia were eventually replaced by a Monomakhovychi branch, the Rurikid dynasty… attempted to impose on their highly diverse polity the integrative concept of russkaia zemlia and the unifying notion of a Rus′ people. But Kievan Rus′ was never really a unified polity and it was a loosely bound, ill-defined, and heterogeneous conglomeration of lands and cities inhabited by tribes and populous groups whose loyalties were primarily territorial. This caused the Rurik dynasty to effectively dissolve into several sub-dynasties ruling smaller states in the 10th and 11th centuries and these were the Olgoviches of Severia who ruled in Chernigov, Yuryeviches who controlled Vladimir-Suzdal, and Romanoviches in Galicia-Volhynia. The Olgoviches descended from Oleg I of Chernigov, a son of Sviatoslav II of Kiev and they continued to rule until the early 14th century when they were torn apart by the emerging Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Moscow. Vsevolod I of Kiev was the father of Vladimir II Monomakh, two of Vladimir IIs sons were Mstislav I of Kiev and Yuri Dolgorukiy. The Romanoviches were the line of Roman the Great, descended from Mstislav I of Kiev through his son Iziaslav II of Kiev and his grandson Mstislav II of Kiev, father of Roman the Great. The older Monomakhovychi line that ruled Principality of Volhynia, they were crowned kings of Galicia and Volhynia. Romanovychi displaced the line of Izyaslavychi from Turov and Volhynia as well as Rostyslavychi from Galicia. The last were two brothers of Romanovychi, Andrew and Lev II, who ruled jointly and were trying to repel Mongol incursions
10.
Old Church Slavonic
–
Old Church Slavonic, also known as Old Church Slavic, was the first Slavic literary language. It is thought to have been based primarily on the dialect of the 9th century Byzantine Slavs living in the Province of Thessalonica, as the oldest attested Slavic language, OCS provides important evidence for the features of Proto-Slavic, the reconstructed common ancestor of all Slavic languages. The language was standardized for the mission of the two apostles to Great Moravia in 863, the language and the alphabet were taught at the Great Moravian Academy and were used for government and religious documents and books between 863 and 885. The texts written during this phase contain characteristics of the Slavic vernaculars in Great Moravia, in 885, the use of Old Church Slavonic in Great Moravia was prohibited by Pope Stephen V in favour of Latin. Students of the two apostles, who were expelled from Great Moravia in 886, brought the Glagolitic alphabet to the First Bulgarian Empire, there it was taught at two literary schools, the Preslav Literary School and the Ohrid Literary School. The Glagolitic alphabet was used at both schools, though the Cyrillic script was developed early on at the Preslav Literary School where it superseded Glagolitic. The texts written during this era exhibit certain linguistic features of the vernaculars of the First Bulgarian Empire and these local varieties are collectively known as the Church Slavonic language. In Bosnia was preserved the local Bosnian Cyrillic alphabet, while in Croatia a variant of the Glagolitic alphabet was preserved, see Early Cyrillic alphabet for a detailed description of the script and information about the sounds it originally expressed. For Old Church Slavonic, the segments are reconstructible. The sounds are given in Slavic transliterated form rather than in IPA, as the realisation is uncertain. The letter щ denoted different sounds in different dialects and is not shown in the table, in Bulgaria, it represented the sequence /ʃt/, and it is normally transliterated as št for that reason. Farther west and north, it was probably /c/ or /tɕ/ like in modern Macedonian, Torlakian and Serbian/Croatian, /dz/ appears mostly in early texts, becoming /z/ later on. The distinction between l, n and r, on one hand, and palatal l, n and r, when it is, it is shown by a kamora diacritic over the letter. Accent is not indicated in writing and must be inferred from later languages, the pronunciation of yat ě differed by area. In Bulgaria it was an open vowel, commonly reconstructed as /æ/. The yer vowels ĭ and ŭ are often called ultrashort and were lower, more centralised and shorter than their counterparts i and they disappeared in most positions in the word, already sporadically in the earliest texts but more frequently later on. They also tended to merge with other vowels, particularly ĭ with e and ŭ with o, the exact articulation of the nasal vowels is unclear because different areas tend to merge them with different vowels. ę is occasionally seen to merge with e or ě in South Slavic, ǫ generally merges with u or o, but in Bulgaria, ǫ was apparently unrounded and eventually merged with ŭ
